ILC Feature
and private treaty . Magness , who has always relied heavily on embryo transfer , has about 150 ET calves born each spring and AI ’ s 75 % of the herd .
If that sounds like a lot of cattle , you ’ re right , but when you sell 225 commercial bulls and another 50 or so to fellow seedstock producers in a year ’ s time , it takes a lot of momma cows .
Sales where you can find Magness genetics include their Mile-High Elite Sale , during the National Western in Denver , Colorado , their March Southern Division Bull Sale in Miami , Oklahoma , their newly developed Western Slope Annual Bull Sale in April in Loma , Colorado ; their Labor Day Online Show Heifer Pasture Sale at the headquarters in
Platteville , Colorado , and their October Fall Female Sale in Miami , Oklahoma .
As one can imagine , Magness is truly dedicated to not only breed improvement , but overall genetic progress throughout the beef industry . Magness Land & Cattle is using all the tools at its disposal to produce Limousin seedstock that are balanced both from a maternal and carcass perspective . Through DNA , actual measurements and ultrasound they are working to identify cattle that truly push the genetic needle forward .
Given their vast marketing network and slew of clients from coast to coast , the Magness operation strives to propagate not only quality , but genetic variability . The means to this end is remaining flexible from a genetic standpoint . Due to changes in the environment , they have learned that customers prefer different kinds of cattle .
It is safe to say that if the Magness family didn ’ t believe in Limousin cattle , they would not have stayed the course for this length of time . In their minds , the key to the future success of the Limousin breed lies within a balanced animal .
As a breed , they know they can ’ t get away from the calvingease , muscle and efficiency
16 | APRIL 2018